Death at My Heels
by HungerJackson
Summary: Ninety-Two; that's the number of days she's got left of life. Twenty-One; the number of things she has to do before leaving this world. Two; number of people willing to help her. The clock is ticking. Accompanied by her best friend and her good-looking acting teacher, Annabeth will try to live her life before leukemia finishes with it. Will she succeed?


_**A/N:** New Year, new projects! Hello everyone, how're you doing? Well, I'm here to introduce you a new story, which came to mind as I thought of: a) the things I want to do this year, and b) a request I received a couple of weeks ago. I hope you like it, as always. It's the first time I write using Past Tense, so let's see how it goes. This story's Beta is **BuRsT oF iRiDeScEnT **(thanks so much for accepting to help me with this!). And...that's all I've got to say. If you can, please review! :)_

* * *

**Prologue**

I scrolled down the webpage I was reading and found something that attracted my full attention. A couple of hours ago, an anonymous poet had published a poem who had listed all of the things he or she wanted to do before dying.

* * *

_Will I ever?_

_Will I ever get the chance to save a life?_

_Or fly a plane?_

_Or go hang-gliding?_

_Will I ever get the chance to go to Ireland?_

_Or make a noticeable difference in the world?_

_Perhaps direct a movie?_

_Maybe ride an elephant?_

_All these things―will I ever get the chance?_

* * *

Before today I'd never thought much of the things I wanted to do before leaving this world, but now that my days were counted I couldn't help feeling that I needed to live as much as possible.

I had to enjoy every second left with my family and friends, and I had to follow my dreams before dying and saying 'I should've done this.'

I'd been diagnosed with Leukemia a couple of hours ago. The curious thing? I wasn't sad about it. I didn't even feel scared about my imminent death. Of course I kept asking, 'why me? Why do I have to die being the young age of nineteen?' But there was nothing I could do. If that was my fate, I had to accept it.

Did I mention that I wouldn't accept treatment? I wasn't planning to delay the inevitable, or to suffer for something that wouldn't heal me entirely. I didn't want to be in pain for the rest of my days. That gave me only two or three months left of life.

As I closed my laptop slowly, my best friend―almost a sister―pushed the door open and ran towards me. I was still a bit shocked by her entrance when she hugged me, so her arms were wrapped around my limp body.

Thalia was this punk girl with short, black hair and electric-blue eyes. We'd met each other years ago, in school―though she was a couple of years older than me. After I had told her about my disease she'd hung up the phone, and here she was now. I was grateful for having her so close.

"Oh, Annabeth," she said, releasing me. "I can't believe this is happening. Tell me that all this is a joke."

Despite the situation, I couldn't help rolling my eyes. Was she being serious? "Yeah, I _love_ joking about my death, Thalia." I said, pouring as much sarcasm as possible to my voice. "I love saying that I've got cancer to everyone so they can―"

"There's no need to be sarcastic." Her eyes went flat as she sat beside me. There were a couple of seconds in which we stared at each other, silent, until she raked a hand through her hair and talked. "How is your family?"

I sighed and stared down at my lap. The image of mom crying flashed before my eyes. Now she didn't want to talk to me. Dad wasn't a person who showed his feelings, but I knew he was sad and angry too.

"Mom's furious because I don't want to be treated," I admitted, giving a weak smile. "She hasn't come to see me after she left the room and slammed the door shut."

"I know a wee bit about leukemia." Thalia scratched her nape. I knew by the way she narrowed her eyes that she was trying to remember something. "You could find someone who can donate you bone marrow. I'm not sure how that helps, but I heard somewhere that it's a solution."

"I already investigated about that, but I don't like that option. It would take some time to find a donor, and then I'd have to wait to see if my organism accepts the bone marrow." I shrugged, though I was happy to know that Thalia worried about me. "Thalia, if I'm going to die I don't want to delay my death."

"But―"

"Please understand it. Don't act like mom." I placed a hand over hers and waited for a response. If she didn't understand, I didn't know what I would do. She was one of the few people who I wanted to spend my last days with.

She sighed. "Okay."

"Thanks, Thals." After squeezing her hand, I reached to take a notepad from my nightstand. A list of things was scribbled on a page. Before I'd started researching about leukemia I had jotted down all of my dreams and things I never intended to do―how much harm could they make now I was dying? "Meanwhile, I'm planning to live my life. You know, before I die."

Thalia tilted her head to the left with a pouty expression on her face. "Hearing you say, 'before I die' sounds _so_ sad." Suddenly, a grin flitted across her face. "But hearing you say that you'll live your life sounds _so_ exciting. What're you planning, Chase?"

"I want to do this. According to what I read I've got two or three months left before―well, you know. So I have to start with this list as soon as possible, and you have to help me as much as you can." I handed her the notepad. She scanned my list slowly. As she read she raised her eyebrows and made comments, such as 'That's cool'.

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_Things I want to do:_

_-Save a life_

_-Visit Greece_

_-Learn to drive_

_-Go skydiving_

_-Climb a mountain_

_-Attend a huge party_

_-Swim with a dolphin_

_-Shower in a waterfall_

_-Sleep under the stars_

_-Get a tattoo (maybe not)_

_-Visit Las Vegas_

_-Fall in love_

_-Slow dance in the rain_

_-Feel loved_

_-Watch all of the Harry Potter movies in one day_

_-Jump in a pool fully clothed_

_-Get in a taxi and yell, "Follow that car!"_

_-Attend acting classes_

_-Have a paint fight_

_-Spend New Year's Eve at Times Square_

_-Invite someone without a family to my family's holiday dinner_

* * *

"That's a long list, Chase," Thalia said, turning to stare at me worriedly. "Do you think we can complete it?"

"I think we can." I smiled. "Are you planning to help me?"

"Of course I am! I won't let you stay with all the fun." She grinned. "When do you want to start?"

"Tomorrow," I replied without thinking. "If I'm going to complete this list, I need to do it before time runs out."


End file.
